Dear Friend,

It's an exciting time in Oregon's Marine Reserve Process! The consensus bill, HB 3013, has been signed into law. Governor Kulongoski referenced Oregon's new law in his recent Oregonian op-ed: "This Legislature kept an eye on the future by enacting policies that will benefit us today and future generations of Oregonians."

Now that the bill has been enrolled, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, consistent with the new law based on HB 3013, held a public workshop in Newport to discuss Oregon's marine reserve work plan. The law describes a process to implement the marine reserve at Otter Rock near Depoe Bay; and the marine protected area and reserve at Redfish Rocks near Port Orford; as well as further evaluation of four additional sites at Cape Falcon near Cannon Beach; Cascade Head near Lincoln City; Cape Perpetua near Yachats and Florence; and in the Reedsport, Coos Bay, Bandon area.

Our Ocean staff and key community leaders were in attendance and were generally pleased at the tone and tenor of the workshop, which was designed to implement HB 3013. But in order to ensure the success of this important effort your support is needed!

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is taking public comments on the draft work plan until Monday, August 17. This plan can be viewed at: http://www.oregonmarinereserves.net/images/stories/ODFW_WorkPlan_07312009.pdf (PDF) and comments should be emailed to odfw.marinereserves@state.or.us or mailed to Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Marine Reserves, 2040 SE Marine Science Dr., Newport, OR 97365.

We urge you to take advantage of this opportunity and we thank you if you've already commented.

Coastal Field Trips Receive Overwhelming Interest

On July 25, Our Ocean hosted two field trips to the coast. One trip took participants to the Cape Falcon / Nehalem area and the other took citizens to the Cape Perpetua / Heceta Head area on the central coast. The day was full of excellent presentations from coastal experts and scientists on relevant marine topics, which proved to be very educational. Both trips were very well received and extraordinarily well attended. Due to the overwhelming interest for the state process and the potential sites under consideration, we regretfully had to stop accepting RSVPs after only two weeks.

Our Ocean would like to thank our coastal hosts, the Our Ocean Organizers, and all community leaders for making the day productive and fun. Special thanks go to Representative Debbie Boone and Representative Arnie Roblan for addressing the field trip groups and adding their perspectives to the discussions. Our Ocean will plan more opportunities, including field trips, in the future so please stay tuned!